The Weatherly Area School District and the Weatherly Area Education Association have ratified a four-year collective bargaining agreement covering the period from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2030.

“I want to thank the negotiators for all their hard work and time they put in,” Director William Knepper said.

Salary schedule

The agreement, signed Sept. 9, calls for salary schedule increases of 3% in each of the first two years of the contract and 3.25% in each of the final two years. All percentages are inclusive of step movement.

Salary increases are effective retroactively for the 2026-27 school year, with retroactive amounts due to be paid to each bargaining unit member no later than the second pay period after ratification.

Under the new salary schedule, a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree will earn $51,539 in 2026-27, rising to $56,587 by the 2029-30 school year. A teacher at the top of the schedule holding a master’s degree plus 45 additional credits will earn $83,315 in the contract’s first year, increasing to $88,749 by its final year.

Teachers with 20 or more years of credited service in the district receive longevity increments on top of base salary. Those with 20 to 25 years of service receive an additional $500 annually. The increment grows to $1,250 for teachers with 26 to 29 years of service and $1,750 for those with 30 or more years.

Health insurance

The contract also addresses health insurance contributions, requiring each professional employee to contribute 6% of the premium equivalent toward the cost of PPO healhealth careverage. That contribution is capped at $2,000 in 2026-27, rising to $2,100 in 2027-28, $2,200 in 2028-29 and $2,300 in 2029-30.

Employees who choose the Qualified High Deductible Plan with a Health Savings Account contribute 3% of the premium equivalent, capped at $1,800 annually throughout the life of the contract. The district will deposit $2,000 for single coverage or $4,000 for family coverage into each participating member’s HSA during the 2026-27 school year. Those amounts drop to $1,500 single and $3,000 family for the remaining three years of the agreement.

Employees hired after ratification of the agreement will only have access to the QHDP option, though an exception exists for those who cannot fully utilize the HSA due to IRS regulations or Medicare laws, including employees with spouses enrolled in a Federal Health Savings Account or those with dependent children between the ages of 22 and 26.

Teachers who elect to waive medical coverage entirely stand to receive significant payments. Under the benefit waiver provision, eligible employees waiving single coverage receive $7,500, those waiving employee/spouse coverage receive $10,000 and those waiving family coverage receive $15,000. Family members working in the district in any capacity are ineligible for the waiver.

The PPO plan carries a $750 single/$1,250 family deductible, with co-pays of $15 for primary care visits, $25 for specialist visits, $35 for urgent care and $75 for emergency room visits.

Retirement incentive

Teachers who retire after at least 20 years of service are eligible for an early retirement incentive of $20,000, paid as a non-elective employer contribution into a 403(b) tax-sheltered account. The payment decreases by $2,000 for each year of service beyond 30, with the incentive reaching zero at 36 years of service. Employees must notify the district in writing of their intent to retire by March 15 of the school year prior to retirement.

Other highlights

Unused sick leave accrues at $75 per day, paid into a 403(b) account at the time of retirement for employees with at least 10 years of service. In the event a covered employee dies while in active service, the district will pay unused sick leave at a rate of $35 per day to the designated immediate family member.

The contract provides three personal leave days per year, with unused days carrying over to the following school year. No more than five personal days may be used in any single school year, though employees may use up to two additional personal days to extend bereavement leave following the death of a family member without those days counting against the five-day limit.

Professional development tuition reimbursement is available for up to nine credits per year, reimbursed at the State University System rate. Credits may be banked for column movement purposes but may not be banked for reimbursement. Employees who do not return to a full-time teaching position in the district the following year are required to pay back any reimbursement received, with an exception for those leaving due to medical necessity.

Outside assignments such as tutoring, home study instruction, Saturday detention, grant writing and curriculum writing are compensated at $30 per hour and are described in the agreement as voluntary in nature.

The district’s athletic director receives $8,292.74 in extracurricular compensation under the new contract, the highest stipend on the schedule. The HS/MS Band Director receives $5,881.14. A range of academic club advisers, incadvisershose overseeing Science Olympiad, National Honor Society, MATHCOUNTS and Scholastic Scrimmage, each receive $892.03.